79.02/ Every erev-Shabbas I say 'stay safe' and while that's generally about the pandemic, for my fellow Jews it's also about the onslaught of antisemitism that assaults us since the dominance of unchecked hate on social media which led to the rise of Trump (ym'sh) and others.
79.03/ Motzei Shabbat began with the terror at the #ColleyvilleSynagogue. Thank God the hostages were all saved.
79.04/ I am a former synagogue rabbi & I'd like to dream that I'd be capable of the same grace and bravery as Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker. He's a hero.
Maybe I'd have quipped "this is a heckuva way to spend #TuBiShvat" with steely determination. I don't want to test it, though
79.05a/ Because of last night's terror, we really weren't able to have a proper #MotzeiShabbatMovieNight. Next week I may show the #StarTrek movie remake, which required me to remind my kids about TOS which led me to discover that it's no longer streaming on my services. Bummer
79.05b/ So I scrambled and managed to buy the 3 seasons as boxed sets but the streaming allowed me to remember which were good episodes & which were unwatchable (biggest reason: misogyny). Eventually, I'll list which ones I'm showing and why for others' use.
79.06/ While it would have been nice for the #Steelers to win, I just wanted to avoid embarrassment. And I think we did that. The full humiliation went to the Patriots and that's sweet. Runner up: the Cowboys losing at home on a terrible last play. #NFLPlayoffs
79.07/ Kinda annoyed at my pre-hominid ancestors for not figuring out that it's waaaay better to hibernate in the winter. Just imagining sleeping for three months straight...
79.08/ I celebrate #TuBiShvat doing my favorite religious activity: skipping tachanun.
79.09/ As expected, I'm a zombie rn after the #Steelers game. Win or lose, night games rile me up so I can't sleep. And while it started super fun (TJ below) it ended with a familiar icky thump. Well, the team can't hurt me any more this season. #HereWeGo
79.10/ Excellent sugya in today's daf about the responsibility of communal leadership to prevent damage to the public and if they fail to do so, it's as if they committed murder. Modern application is stunningly obvious. sefaria.org/Moed_Katan.5a.…
79.11/ This is a good comparison of the numbers and a refutation of the glib complaint.
79.14/ With #MeToo resources, I've learned to hold off on eulogizing famous people until I skim their history, just in case they're implicated in something terrible. It paid off here. The Loaf of Meat was an anti-vaxxer. Ugh.
79.17/ As I wrote last week, these reminders are important, especially in the face of propaganda disguised as principled criticism from the accelerationists:
79.18/ Her political career is likely done, which may have been her goal (if she even had one, she strikes me as a broken-spring pogo stick short of a clown car). Just hope she doesn't switch parties & bring down the majority
79.19/ While I identified most with Mirabel (and Bruno, heh), it was galvanizing to see the revolutionary character of Luisa. All three sisters were great 3-dimentional archetypes. #Encanto is a masterpiece.
79.20/ It's clear to me that killing the filibuster is all good because the GOP governs by judges only - to hide their real agenda. 51 Senators to pass law will expose their horrible goals and that's a bluff I think we should call.
79.24/ Bookmarking this because it's important to remember: the GOP doesn't consider African Americans actually "Americans." As my fellow Cassandras know, it's a pleasant surprise when something terrible is finally made clear for everyone to see.
96.03/ It's really this simple. And b/c it's actually this simple, it's clear anti-voters don't understand citizenship & shared responsibility like I do.
They're like anti-vaxers that way. In this way too: both threaten all our lives when they opt out.
Me: "Talk to them, teach them, it's part of the role of parent. I do it all the time."
My kids: "Yes! He does! Please make him stop!"
Me, distributing handouts: "OK, on page 3, we have fieldnotes I took in '95..."
Kids: "Nooooo!"
95.03/ Hey, I think I got the @HowieRose trivia question for the first time today (Q: which Rolling Stones song mentions the Kentucky Derby. A: "Dead Flowers"). But I refuse to believe this is one of Howie's favorite songs. It's purposefully terrible, man. It's just awful.
94.02/ Health update: still no symptoms from my bout with COVID except for general irritability but it's impossible to know if it's different from my normal state. Isolation is lonely (big, if true) but my overall emotion is fear of making someone else sick. Dread is the worst.
94.03/ I see the #Mets won (this is a fun season so far, especially since I'm not the one getting hit by fastballs in the head) and the #NYR won and are ready for the playoffs. Best of all is post-#NFLDraft Sat. night when I get to see all the gifts my team gave me as a fan. #LGM
92.02/ This has been one of the busiest #CholHaMoed periods I've had in years. Many things are opening up again while I recognize the window may be closing again so we're doing errands (like getting drivers licenses, passports etc). I'm actually looking forward to yuntif to rest!
92.03/ This is very nice! #Disability accommodations are always a good thing. #LGM
1/ Last night @frumfollies responded to my thread and his comments are very important about the decay & unreliability of the current communal governance systems.